Beware of online hotel booking scams.

Forging the seal of the Department of Tourism to commit fraud.

Recently, a tourist with the social media account N. reported on a travel fanpage about being scammed by fraudsters who tricked him into booking a resort room at the Vinpearl resort complex on Hon Tre Island (Nha Trang City). The scammers created a fake Vinpearl Hotel Nha Trang fanpage to gain the trust of potential bookings. When tourists booked rooms, the account only quoted a price of 2.7 million VND per night. To build trust, the scammers only requested a 50% deposit to an account under the name of Vinpearl Resort JSC at a bank, and also issued a voucher with a forged seal and signature of the Director of the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism. Mr. HTV (from Thanh Hoa province) fell for the scam because he saw the Vinpearl room price was too cheap. Upon arriving in Nha Trang, he discovered that the actual Vinpearl room price was much higher than the price the scammer had quoted. Fortunately, his family was assisted by a travel company in booking a room at another hotel at the original price, allowing them to enjoy a pleasant vacation in the coastal city. Similarly, Masova Hotel was targeted by scammers who created fake Facebook pages and forged vouchers bearing the seal of the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism to commit fraud. Tourists only realized they had been nearly scammed when they contacted the hotel through acquaintances to request a discount.

Scammers are creating fake vouchers bearing the Masova Hotel's name and the Tourism Department's seal to commit fraud.

The situation of fraudsters impersonating the Facebook pages of numerous famous hotels and resorts in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa to scam tourists out of their booking money is not new. However, many tourists still fall victim to this scam. Mr. Luong Hoang Thien - General Manager of Masova Hotel, said that in May and June 2025, four tourists were scammed when trying to book rooms at Masova Hotel, totaling over 50 million VND. Earlier in 2025, a customer was also scammed out of nearly 50 million VND.

In reality, scams targeting hotel bookings are not new, but the methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Scammers often create accounts with names similar to those of hotels and resorts to avoid suspicion. Not only do they steal booking deposits, but they also lure victims into clicking on malicious links, resulting in the theft of all funds from their accounts. Many people have lost large sums of money. “Initially, they asked me to transfer 1 million VND as a deposit for Masova Hotel. Then, they said I had transferred the wrong amount for the booking, asked me to transfer it back, and instructed me to log into a link and fill in the information to retrieve the ‘mistakenly’ transferred money. Then, my account was hacked, and nearly 26.4 million VND was transferred,” said Ms. M. (from Hanoi ).

Be careful not to be scammed.

To help tourists avoid being scammed when booking rooms, Mr. Vo Quang Hoang - Head of the Khanh Hoa Hotel Association (Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association) advises that tourists wishing to travel to Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa should contact hotels and resorts directly or book rooms through local travel companies, travel agencies, or reputable international online booking sites such as Agoda.com, Booking.com… If booking through hotel fanpages, careful verification is necessary to avoid fraud. According to Mr. Hoang, experience shows that newly created fanpages, pages with frequently changed names, pages with too many positive reviews in a very short time, and pages selling rooms at very cheap prices compared to online travel platforms (Agoda.com, Booking.com…) are likely to be fake. If you have any doubts, do not transfer money for a room reservation; instead, try to contact the hotel directly to verify.

Scams targeting hotel bookings have significantly impacted the local tourism image. Authorities have intervened, but the scams persist. Mr. Cung Quynh Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated that the exploitation of trust by scammers to defraud hotel bookings is a systematic tactic, occurring repeatedly with various individuals, negatively affecting the image of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism and therefore requires strict handling. At the end of 2024, when this situation became widespread, the Department of Tourism (formerly) issued a document requesting the Provincial Police and other departments, agencies, and tourism businesses to raise awareness among tourists. Simultaneously, the department also requested that upon discovering fake fan pages, businesses report them to the Department of Information and Communications (formerly) for timely intervention in accordance with the law. Mr. Pham Minh Nhut, Chairman of the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, said that the association has requested the Hotel Branch to strengthen warnings to customers to avoid being scammed; compile a list of hotels that have been impersonated, and统计 the number of customers who have been scammed to report to the authorities for investigation and handling.

One of the fake Fanpages for Best Western Premier Marvella Nha Trang hotel.

Based on the above situation, hotels and resorts should search on Facebook to see if there are any other fan pages similar to their hotel's name. If they discover a fake page, they should report it to have it blocked; at the same time, they should warn customers that it is a fake page to prevent them from placing their trust in the wrong place. In reality, many tourists have avoided online scams thanks to warnings from businesses… “Previously, some tourists lost money when they were tricked into booking rooms through fake Facebook pages of our hotel. Currently, there are still 3 fake Facebook pages named Best Western Premier Marvella Nha Trang. The hotel has continuously posted warnings, so recently customers have been more vigilant. Many customers have contacted the hotel and avoided being scammed… We hope that the authorities will thoroughly address this problem,” a representative of Best Western Premier Marvella Nha Trang shared.

THANH NGUYEN

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/du-lich/202506/canh-giac-thu-doanlua-dao-dat-phong-qua-mang-ddd1cac/